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US 2002/0152907 A1Published application
Method and apparatus for maintaining ink level in ink fountain of printing press
AssigneeAccel Graphic Systems, Inc.
InventorJames E. Koehler
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An apparatus and method for maintaining a minimum amount of ink in an ink fountain (10) of a printing press includes an ink fountain level sensor (28) and ink dispenser (26) mounted on a carriage (30) for lateral movement on a track (32) across the ink fountain. The carriage traverses the ink fountain. When the ink in the fountain develops a spot below a preset minimum level, a preset amount of ink is immediately dispensed upon detection of the low spot by the sensor.
Claims9
A rotary printing press comprising:
- an ink fountain including a fountain roller and blade for holding a small supply of viscous, offset printing ink, the ink fountain adapted to cooperate with an ink train for delivering a film of ink to a printing plate;
- a sensor for sensing the level of ink in the ink fountain, wherein said sensor measures the distance between the sensor and the surface of ink in the ink fountain without contacting the ink;
- an ink dispenser for selectively dispensing ink through an outlet of said ink dispenser and into said ink fountain;
- a structure for moving the sensor and said ink dispenser outlet together in tandem along a support mounted above the ink fountain;
- and
- a controller in communication with said ink dispenser, wherein said controller receives samples of the ink level in said ink fountain from the ink level sensor, wherein said samples are taken at discrete intervals along the ink fountain, wherein said controller determines whether ink from the ink dispenser should be dispensed into the ink fountain based at least in part on said received samples.
3 more elements
A method for maintaining a desired level of ink in an ink fountain of an offset printing press comprising:
- providing an ink fountain including a fountain roller and blade for holding a supply of viscous, offset printing ink, said ink fountain is adapted to cooperate with an ink train for delivering a film of ink to a printing plate;
- laterally traversing above said ink fountain a sensor for sensing the level of ink in said at least one segment, wherein said sensor moves in tandem with an ink dispenser, and wherein said sensor measures the distance between said sensor and the surface of ink in said ink fountain without contacting the ink;
- receiving samples of the ink level as the sensor laterally traverses the ink fountain, wherein said samples are taken at discrete intervals along said at least one segment of said ink fountain;
- and
- dispensing ink through an outlet of said ink dispenser when said samples from the ink level sensor indicate a low ink level within said segment.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.